There I said it.

Those who know me know that I'm not the biggest hockey fan. In fact, I can only stand to watch about ten minutes of any game at one time. During my years in Pittsburgh I went to a few Penguins games, but only when someone gave me free tickets. But I never bought into the old standby that hockey is better when you see it live. Every sport is better when you see it live, except NFL football. Even finding hockey on television is a chore. It's either on Versus in between hunting and beach volleyball, or NBC when the network feels like it. In fact NBC agreed to cram games one and two in this weekend. Apparently the weeknights are taken. The network can't wait to debut, I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

So here's what I have to say. I hope the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in The Stanley Cup Finals. Not because I don't like hockey or the Penguins. It's for two other reasons. First, I don't like Penguins fans. Not all of them mind you, just the most serious ones. To me they come across the same way Pitt football fans do. Whiners with an inferiority complex, that take the team way too seriously. To me the Penguins fan is personified by the grown man I saw on the verge of tears at PNC Park years ago. All because my friend called the team the Kansas City Penguins.

Then there are the bandwagon fans. People who could not have cared less when the team was struggling, and was on the verge of leaving town. But they took notice once the team won the top spot in the lottery that got them Sidney Crosby. After that came success, and the bandwagon filled up past capacity.

The second and biggest reason I want to see the Penguins lose is that I want to see Marian Hossa succeed. The man that has been demonized among Penguins fans for taking less money so he could take a job with a team that he felt gave him a better chance to win a title. Let's take off the black and gold colored glasses for a second and admire that. In a day and age when it's all about money this guy essentially said keep the cash, I want a title. Penguins fans labled Hossa a traitor and made up lame nicknames for him. Never mind that he joined the team in a trade on February 26th 2008 and then signed with Detroit on July 2nd. That's not even five months on the team. It's not like he was homegrown talent that turned his back on a fanbase who spent years supporting him.

So, I hope Hossa achieves his goal. It took guts to publicly say why he chose to jump to the Red Wings and anger an entire fan base. And that's first thing releated to hockey I've been able to appreciate in a long time. And if Penguins fans want to punish me for it I have good news for them. I'm a die-hard Pirates fan so I get my punishment every day.

Game 1, Cup Finals

Well, it's upon us all here. As I type this, we're 5 hours away from dropping the puck in the Stanley Cup Finals rematch. That would also put me about 3 hours away from having a cool and refreshing beverage in front of me at the bar.

A couple more previews for us all...

- Prisuta at the Trib here.

- Seth at the P-G blog here.

We head into enemy territory, yet again. We've been a very good road team in these playoffs, closing out each of the prior three series on the road. I can't forsee us being a 'deer in headlights' like we were last year heading into the Finals. This year, unlike last, we're not playing with house money. We fully expected to be here.

Red Wings fans are already making excuses, like I said yesterday in a post. That reeks of weakness and shows that they're scared. The smell of fear in them is starting to rise.

Obviously a split is great for us this weekend. We need to go in there tonight like we're Bear F'n Grylls. Basically hop on in, throw caution to the wind, get dirty, do what you need to do to get by, do your job, and come out the other end with a big F.U. grin on your face.

So once more boys, hit the road of battle.

"Come back with your shield, or on it."

And lastly:

"Give them nothing! But take from them everything!"

The Trail of Tears and Various Predictions

I think that the old Trail of Tears painting should be updated to show a line connecting every Pens opponent during this playoff run. Each one of them seemed to have something to cry about. Well, make sure you add Detroit to the trail of tears as they start their crying before Game 1 even starts.

Here are some various ESPN predicions:

- Buccigross says Pens in 6. That's actually a pretty good take on the series and a good analysis. For a good laugh, read some of the mailbag comments at the end. They pertain to a column he did entitled "Why Does Everyone Hate Sidney Crosby".

- Burnside also says Pens in 6.

- Here's a breakdown of the ESPN "experts'" picks for the series.

- And lastly, here's my official prediction. Pens in 6 and this.

Morning Dump 5/29

Well it's a huge weekend in Pittsburgh sports. Now, of course, everyone's talking about the back to back Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup, but let's not forget about the Pirates.

- The Astros finally have their first meaningful game since this as they come to Pittsburgh for the 'Battle of the Basement' in the NL Central. The losing team this series has to feed Sloth from 'The Goonies'.

- The good Pirate news of the day is that Ryan Doumit has been cleared to rehab for his return to the lineup.

Here's to the Buccos getting another series under their belt!

Now just a few Pens' links here this morn, as the buildup to the games this weekend will probably cause me to do posts just on that alone.

- The big story is the schedule. Puck Daddy talks of the back to back games here. The quick start of the series is dissected here.

Personally, I think that both the quick start to the series and the back to back games help the Pens. First, the Wings are fairly banged up. Now, they're not as banged up as a random police chase car from the 'Dukes of Hazzard', but banged up they are. So the quicker the start, the less time to heal. Speaking of less time to heal, the Pens are a younger and healthier team, so the back to back shouldn't affect them as much as Detroit. Suppose Lidstrom and Datsyuk do play on Saturday, and play a little hurt, how are they gonna turn around and be as effective on Sunday? Maybe they can borrow Hines Ward's hyperbaric chamber? No, hell with that, the best they can hope for is to borrow Michael Jackson's.

- Apparently it's all Conan O'Brien's "fault". Hey though, before some of you yinzers get all pissy at Conan, watch this, laugh your ass off, and all will be forgiven towards Conan.

- Seth at the P-G has a good breakdown of 5 keys to the series.

- The Pensblog, as only they can, nail a preview.

Morning Dump 5/28

- Well, it's settled, it's a Cup rematch against Detroit. Last year we went to Detroit and played like we were just happy to be there and got blitzed. This year feels different. A year older = a year wiser, unless you're this guy.

- Cup schedule here.

- Steady Dan gave the Pens a well-deserved day off. They'll look at film and practice for sure, but they know what they have to do against Detroit and it starts with not letting them park freely in front of the net.

- Did you guys know that Crosby and Malkin have been playing really well?

There will be a ton more as we get closer to Saturday.

- On to the Buccos, who lost in Chicago yesterday afternoon. The bullpen kinda threw up on themselves yesterday again. If you haven't seen Zambrano's ejection fit, check it out here. He got his money's worth.

- Really though, you gotta feel for Zack Duke. He's having a great season so far. He's getting no support though. He's getting less help then a Katrina refugee. Check out just his games pitched on the trip to Chicago: 15 IP's, 14 hits, 4 ER, 10 K's... and he came out 0-2. Sad.

- So Capps won't go to the DL. Surprising. I guess this is teeing up an excuse for him when he comes out and blows up his next couple outings.

- God Pirates' news...when you don't spend on the payroll, you've gotta spend on the draft coming up. The Pirates aren't gonna be Johhny Moneybags or anything, but they appear to be trying to draft the best player available.

The Axe Falleth

Jim Colony from ESPN 1250 got canned today.

He wasn't a major player there as he only did little 'extra points' in the morning and filled in when needed. I think he may have done the weekend show as well, oh well.

He was ok, but no big loss.

I'm just hoping that the firing went like this.

Morning Dump 5/27

"You can spit shine your shoes Loretta, the Pens are going dancing with Lord Stanley."

What a great game last night watching the Pens sweep away the Drizzles. I was pretty confident heading into the series (I predicted a 5 game series), but wow, a sweep? Nice.

Now we sit and wait for presumably Detroit.

On to the links, and there's a lot of 'em today.

- Let's start with the recaps. Of course, the always classic Pensblog recap is here. The P-G's is here. The Trib's is here. Seth at the P-G's here.

- Anyone who watched the game was made sick by the repetition of stats: "the Canes are 7-0 when Staal scores, Cam Ward is 5-0 when facing elimination, Cam Ward has never lost a playoff series, the RBC is the loudest arena, the Canes never lose on the last Tuesday of the month following the first full moon after the spring harvest, etc etc".

Well after last night, they can take all those stats and shove them in their trailer's burn barrel. Staal scored...gak!!

Let's talk about Ward though. He was supposed to be the difference maker. He was supposed to be the guy that led them to the Cup again since he's done it before. Ah, piss on Cam Ward. Anyone who watched the series can tell you that he just wasn't that great. Last night was the exclamation point. Yup, I'm talking about 'the goal'.

First, the shit VS. announcer actually said "OMG" when the goal was scored. Someone check and see if he has balls. Also check and see if he has Jonas Brothers tickets too. What is he, 13?

Second, as for the goal, Puck Daddy at Yahoo said it best here. For those of you that don't get it, the shitty kid always plays right field in Little League. It's the kid that always gets in there because of that lame rule that everyone plays. For those that remember, and know too much about movies like I do, think Timmy Lupus. An original photoshop of mine here. Another great one here.

- Pens Eastern Conf Champs gear will be a hot seller. Me? No thank you. I never buy things like that unless they're 'final' Championship items.

- Puck Daddy again with a good ditty on Shero and Bylsma.

- Lastly, there's a little talk today about Sid touching the Prince of Wales trophy. So the tradition and superstition goes that the Captain isn't supposed to touch the Conference Champion Trophy since that's "not the one they want" (they want the Cup). Last year, he didn't touch it and we lost. This year, he listened to Joel Goodson, "Sometimes you just gotta say, 'What the fuck, make your move.'" Seemed to work out well in the past.

- Now as for the beloved Buccos, Snell shit the bed again last night. I'm about sick of Snell. All he ever has is excuses that aren't his fault for why he pitches poorly. Man up.

- Like I said yesterday, since I'm so damn smart, Capps may be heading to the DL.

- All of our pitchers can take a lesson from Duke, pitch inside from time to time. You can't let guys sit on top of the plate and tee off. Maholm should be studying this as we speak.

Morning Dump, 5/26

Ok, after a long weekend, we're back and ready to go.

- We'll kick off with some Pirates ball, and how can you not start out talking about Freddy Sanchez going 6 for 6 last night in a win against the Cubbies last night? Trib story on it here. It's too bad those bats weren't around over the weekend, they would've swept the ChiSox. As it is though, they're sitting at 2-2 on the trip to Chicago and that's not bad by their standards and their history in that city.

A win tonight guarantees a .500 Chicago trip, and we'd all take that.

- Matt Capps was struck in the elbow by a liner, but his plumpness saved him from a fracture. All kidding aside, I'm sure that a DL stint is in his future.

Now to the big sports' news of the day though: the Pens are trying to break out the brooms against the Drizzles.

Sweeping a team is difficult, especially on their home ice. They'll be playing with pride and emotion, not wanting to go out like that. That's why you have to break their heart and jump on them early. The longer they stay in it, the harder it'll be. Knock them out early, and they'll just skate around aimlessly.

- The Pens power play is plugged back in.

- The Pens are playing "Ruslan Fedotenko Hockey". Which is eerily similar to this here.

- Saying that Malkin is "keeping his critics quiet" is an understatement. I'd say it's more that he's stuffed a sock in their mouth and duck-taped it shut.

- Cam Ward = "subdued". If that's any reflection of how they'll play, then we're in like Flynn. At least he's talking though after being that shell-shocked.

- Finish them. The Pens have had a great killer instinct on the road in these playoffs, wining clinching games in both Philly and Washington. Let's not come back to Mellon til the Cup Finals.

- I expect the fair-weathers to be sitting out tongiht at the RBC. Plenty of good tickets to be had, so expect a lot of Pens fans to be there.

Pens 6, Hurricant's 2

Great win.

RBC tough place to play my ass.

Cam Ward's a tough goalie my ass.

The Pens go for the sweep on Tuesday (ugh) night.

And yes, even after about 8 Miller Lites, I was able to pause my DVR, take that pic with my iPhone, and photoshop that myself.

What am I saying? I rule.

Go Pens.

Game Day, Saturday Game 3

"We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition: A man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

Carolina's not been here before. Their resiliency has only brought them back to win after a loss, not after 2 losses in a row.

Sure, in the grand scheme of things, we, like Washington last series, only held serve on our home ice. But this feels different. In that Washington series, we felt that we could've won those first two, Carolina didn't have much a chance in those first two games.

The RBC Center is supposed to be loud, and their fans/team are hanging their comeback on that. But again, is it really any tougher to play in than Philly or Washington? I think not.

Anything can happen, but it starts tonight. A win here puts a stranglehold on the series, a loss makes it a little more interesting. I don't see them, at this point, being able to win 4 outta 6 games against us to take the series though. Overall, I'd take a split down there and be happy, and then try to close it out here in Game 5.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, tonight we hit the road and start anew.

"Give them nothing, but take from them, everything."

I Got Bit in the Ass Today Son...

So James Harrison can't stay out of the news lately. Turns out his toddler son got bit by his pit bull.

So it seems that the kid will be ok, and not all pit bulls are bad, but I do wonder why someone would let one around a toddler. Oh well.

Anyway, the whole thing reminded me of the scene in 'Friday' when Craig's Dad is telling the story about getting bit in the ass by a dog at work. The scene is still tremendously funny, and it's in crappy quality here:

"I got bit in the ass today son, by a stinky ass filthy dog."

Morning Dump 5/22

Heavy on the Pens link updates with their big win last night.

- Recaps: ESPN here. P-G here. Seth from EN's at the P-G with the best one here. My post from last night when I got home from the game, the rambling mess of run-ons and fragments, summed up my thoughts quite well.

- And now for the, deserved, Malkin love fest: Burnside from ESPN here. Collier here. And lastly, some guy named DeCock (huh huh huh) from Carolina here.

- Puck Daddy at Yahoo has a good take and some observations on the game last night.

- Malkin's goals. The VS announcer said it best on the third goal with his stunned initial call, "Oh my word".

- Speaking of goal calls, does it get any better than Pens broadcaster Mike Lange? The correct answer is 'no'.

- Super goalie Cam Ward was rattled to say the least. He wouldn't have been able to stop a beach ball thrown at him last night.

- Last, but certainly not least, I think that Satan is smiling in this picture as he pops the Carolina player. I'm officially scared of him. Last time I saw someone smile in a fight like that was here.

- The Pirates blew an 8th inning lead last night in a loss. They won the 5 outta 7 that they had to in the last 2 series, and have won 3 series in a row. They however go into the House of Horrors known as Interleague Play where they've sucked hind tit.

Game 2, Pens 7 - Mild Breezes 4

Just got back from the game.

Pens won 7-4.

We sat in the same section as Malkin's parents.

The 'Cam Ward' mocking chant is always a good time.

More shirts and towels for the collection.

My hat = gone.

That is all.

Captains Named

Penn State football today named their Captains for the upcoming season.

Daryll Clark and Sean Lee, in no major surprise, were given the honor of holding hands as they walk out to the coin toss.

No word on whether they like like each other or if they just like each other just as friends.

Morning Dump 5/20

Yup, the Pirates are smokin right now, winners of 4 in a row and 6 of their last 8.

- The Pirates won last night, putting them one win away from the magical 5 outta 7 that was needed from these last two series. A win tonight and one tomorrow for good measure, with our #1 and #2 starters on the mound isn't unreasonable and would put the Pirates right back up only one game under .500...before they go to their own personal El Guapo that is Chicago.

- The Pirates, like the Steelers, are getting a White House tour on Wednesday. Of course the Pirates have to pay the admission fee and don't get to meet the President, but hey.

- Jack Wilson was voted as having a #1 webgem on ESPN. Stay tuned as I'm sure this will be made into a bobblehead in the near future.

- A little slow on the Pens news since Game 2 doesn't start til next fall with this NBA-esque schedule. Both papers had articles on Kunitz and the worst scoring dryspell I've seen since this guy's. Trib here, P-G here. Maybe Kunitz can at least get a dry hump tomorrow night.

- This was emailed to me today and it's a pretty well put together video for the Pens' playoff push. Check it out, link here. Thanks to Chris Benson for the link.

Drug Him or Knock Him Unconscious Then...

Anytime one gets a chance to post a picture of and make an analogy to Mr. T, they should jump all over it.

The latest on James Harrison and his White House trip is that he's afraid to fly. Of course, he flies multiple times a year for regular Steeler games etc and DC is really only a 5 hour drive away, but hey, who are we to argue.

And yes, that fear of flying is exactly like a badass from my childhood, specifically B.A. Baracus, who was afraid to fly in the A-Team. Yes, the A-Team is on here nightly at 8 pm on the Retro Television Network and I watch it whenever I can. It's preceeded by The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider, and Magnum P.I. follows it. It's quite the 4 hour block of tv.

Morning Dump 5/19

That flipping of the bird was one of those random priceless moments that happen during the telecast of a live sporting event. Even last night as we were all here watching it, we had to rewind and watch that part a few times, and laugh just as hard each time. Thanks to the Pensblog for the screen cap.

A good night in Pittsburgh sports...

- P-G recap of the game here. Satan and Boucher, one back from the dead and one first put in for emergency duty, both scored goals last night. The P-G had the same take here.

- Fleury easily was the reason the Canes didn't score in the first, and he was easily the reason that our lead held up at the end. ESPN says the same here. Ron Cook details more here.

On one hand, we gotta be happy that we played well, got secondary scoring, and won without Crosby even registering a shot. Just wait til he gets the motor running. On the other hand, we could easily have lost this game had Fleury not kept us in it and preserved the lead. We need to play a little better on defense.

- The Pirates won their first game against the Nats last night. The bats woke up again giving the Pirates two straight games of scoring over 10 runs.

- In general MLB news though, as an East Coast fan, you gotta love this.




- My talk with Smizik...

The other day, Smizik had a blog post on the P-G about the Pirates and the 16 year old from the DR and why we shouldn't do it.


My reply to him:

"I disagree.

Who cares if he's 16, 17, or 18 for that matter?

Many great Latin players are signed like this.

Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Vlad Guererro, and Johan Santana were all first signed as free agents at this age and they seemed to turn out pretty well.

I'm sure I could dig and find more, but the point remains.

As an aside, it's odd to see a bulk fanbase that usually complains about our 'stingy' owner now blast him for attempting to spend this money here and call it wasteful.

I'd rather spend this here than a crud free agent."

Another thing that I said:

"Oh, and also, to attempt to make a point that we can't do this right because of prior talent evaluation mishaps (which overall were atrocious) by the Pirates is way off base since there's a new regime (including GM and scouting director Greg Smith)."

Smizik then replied to my first comment, Smizik here:

"(I am sure you could find plenty more Dominicans [Aramis Ramirez] who have had good to outstanding MLB careers. And for every one of those, there are about 10 who have signed professional contracts and gone on to do nothing. --- Bob Smizik)"

To which I said:

"Bob,

Thanks for the reply.

But that expands on the larger issue that, since they don't spend on payroll, that they should spend in the draft and development.

We can't criticize the judgment of the new regime the way we did the old one since the jury's still out on their decisions.

Let them scout, draft, and develop. We'll see what happens then, but this is exactly the type of thing they should be looking into."

Morning Dump 5/18

Well, it's another crud Monday, but we've got a lot to look forward to in the sports world, so crack one tonight.

- Let's get this out of the way, the douche loser that blogs the NFL at Yahoo has an article about Harrison not going to meet Obama with the rest of the team. So is Harrison being a little ridiculous? Probably, but really who cares, it's his choice. And here some loser in a driving cap (which should disqualify him from writing about football) tries to drum up controversy.

- In other Steelers' news, they may be a very different team after this year. They've got nine starters in the last year of their contract. Stay tuned...

- The Pirates won the series against the Rockies, hammering out 76 runs in one inning yesterday. They shoulda swept them, but Matt Capps pitched like me at the county fair speed pitch on Friday and blew a save.

- They now move on to play four against the woeful (can a Pirates' fan really call someone woeful?) Nats. A preview here. 3 out of 4 is doable, and a must.

- Gorzy's back for the Pirates. Sad to see the guy who was our #1 starter last year now relegated to a call-up long relief role, filling the role once held by the ol 'Double Deuce' Ryan Vogelsong. Tis the Pirates...

note: please don't confuse that Double Deuce with the real Double Deuce.

- The Pens get under way tonight in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Cowhers. Seth at the P-G with an in depth preview here.

- Crosby's playing well.

Morning Dump 5/15

- Well the Eastern Conference Finals are set for the Pens. Starting Monday night (huh?) they play the Hurricanes. Schedule here. What a shitty schedule though, that's spread out like a damn NBA series. Boo on you NHL and Versus.

- Ron Cook has a good look at this team and how they may be better than the '08 team. I think that the jury's still out. Talent-wise, I don't think this team is as good. Not having Hossa and Malone is a major difference, but experience and 'gut-wise' they may be better.

- Malkin, "No, it's just the job is only half done, it is only the second round," he said. "Yes, it is a great victory for us tonight, but the most important games are ahead of us. Of course we are happy that we won this game. But also all of the fatigue is accumulated after such a difficult and long series. So, it's time for some rest now."

Well said, well said.

- The Pirates played small ball last night, stranding 325 runners on base, in a loss to the Cards. They won the series, which from where they were last week is great, but the sweep was there for the taking.

As I detailed yesterday, an important stretch of games is upon them against beatable teams. 5 of the next 7 is a must to get back to .500.

- Gotta really like what Ohlendorf is doing this year so far.

- Hopefully the Pirates land this 16 year old kid from the DR. They're in a bidding war, but they've got some in's. This alone makes me salivate, "Based on what I've seen and heard from talent evaluators, his upside is that he's Albert Pujols in Hanley Ramirez's body"

Morning Dump 5/14

- The Pens won Game 7 last night and I'm feeling extra lazy today. Seth at the P-G has a wonderful list of various links to the game from a local perspective, a Washington perspective, a Canadian perspective, and a National perspective.

It was quite a satisfying win. There was no teeth gnashing, nail biting, or wife punching. Going up 2-0 after the first (2 goals in 8 seconds mind you) was huge.

After the Pens scored their first goal, we didn't even have a chance to bitch about the Pens not being able to hold a one goal lead all series before Craig Adams lit the lamp and put us up by two.

We didn't feel totally comfortable starting the second, but we didn't even have a chance to bitch about the sleepwalking that we've been doing in the second period before Guerin scored. We sat back and relaxed a tad, still somewhat nervous and then Letang allowed us to exhale as we went up 4-0.

The rest of the evening consisted of talking about the next round (which pissed off my superstitious wife), laughing at shots of Caps' fans in the stands, drinking more Miller Lite, and checking the Pirates' score on my phone.

Off to the Conference Finals we go. So...who do we want?

Speaking of the Pirates:

- They won their second in a row last night. They got another great starting effort and the bullpen finally got their collective heads out of their asses.

- If the rain holds, the Pirates go for a sweep today. A win today would be a great springboard going into a series against two beatable teams, the Rockies and Nats. It's now or never with this lighter schedule for them to claw back towards .500.

- Pirates' star prospect Pedro Alvarez is doing his best Rob Deer impersonation.

Game 7

6-2

"Veni, vidi, vici"

"I came, I saw, I conquered."

Game 7, Countdown to Battle

"We have nothing left in the world but what we can win with our swords. Timidity and cowardice are for men who can see safety at their backs - can retreat without challenge along some easy road and find refuge in the familiar fields of their native land; but they are not for you; you must be brave; for you there is no middle way between victory or death - put all hope of it from you, and either conquer, or, should fortune hesitate to favor you, meet death in battle than in flight."


- Hannibal 218 B.C.

Morning Dump 5/13, Game 7 Edition

Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

Well, few things in sports are bigger, better, and more dramatic than an NHL Game 7. I've already had more heart attacks than Farley in the bar as a Superfan in the SNL skit. I've got the AED ready for tonight.

A few quick links...

- Do or die tonight.

- Willis Reed Gonchar could play tonight.

- As far as Fleury in this series, it's time to shit or get off the pot. This could be a career-defining game for him. As a former #1 overall pick now in his 6th year, he should have the pedigree and experience to steal this game. He's been subpar (to put it lightly) this series. A franchise goalie is to step up, let's see it.

- The Pens have a good dose of history on their side in Game 7's. None of it makes a lick of difference, but it's still good to talk about.

And on to the hype...


So to fellow fans:

Ready your breakfast and eat hearty... For tonight, we dine in hell!

So to our Pens:

"Prepare for glory!!"


"Come back with your shield, or on it."

Gonchar to Pull Willis Reed?

Gonchar practiced today.

His status is unknown for tomorrow. If he plays, is this the 'Willis Reed Moment' that the Pens need?

He seems highly pissed off in this interview today, as opposed to better days of him fishing as in the picture above.

Go Pens!

Morning Dump 5/12

Well, there will be a Game 7, plain and simple. The Pens can't seem to close a team out at home. It's alomst as if they think the team will just roll over and play dead for them.

I guess there's just one thing left to do (0:22-0:32, not safe for work).

I don't want to say that Fleury let soft goals in, but as a franchise goalie, he's gotta play better. Period. Here's to hoping that he can have one of 'his games' and steal it tomorrow.

To the links...

- Game recap here.

- Crosby and Ovechkin are living up to the hype. Malkin and Crosby have yet to both play great in the same game. If that happens, it's over for the Caps.

- Ovechkin finally got help last night in the scoring department. Personally I think the best help for that is from this man.

- Gill and Scuderi have been playing tremendously well. Last night though, Scuderi played well whereas Gill had a hand in 2 Caps goals. He played like complete shit.

- I guess though that we shoulda figured that it would go 7. This young group that we have had to get to a Game 7 at some point. (5:10-5:13).

- Not much going on with our beloved Pirates. Just this article on Moss and his suckiness.

- Someone took the time to plot Snell's pitch velocities from his last few starts.

They're Shitty

I looked for a picture of the Japanese turf crew guys, but this is the best I could do.

Eight in a row. And the last three weren't even close. I told a friend the other day I'm amazed at how bad this Pirates team is. He asked if I was really amazed. My response was for them to start the way they did, (great pitching, solid hitting) and then for it all disappear the way it did, yes I am amazed. Just a few weeks ago they were four games above .500 and I was looking at the standings on an off day just to see if other teams would lose and maybe they could get a taste of first. Today, they stand seven games below the .500 mark and are dead last. My solution, time to start focusing on the Royals.

Morning Dump 5/11

Well, I guess it's official, or it may have been for some time, but the Pirates I think have gone from suck to blow.

- Terrible offense + awful bullpen = not good, so it says here. Actually, that's just a painful article to read. Someone come punch me in the face instead please.

-I'm not sure where Dejan is getting that strong of Kool-Aid, but he seems to think that the season isn't over for the Pirates. Now granted, there are still a lot of games left, but with this recent deluge of awful suckiness, him saying that just reminds me a lot of this.

- Maybe 'The Natural' had it right, maybe losing is contagious.

- Pens look to close out the Caps tonight in Game 6 at home. For enjoyment and amusement, read some comments of this blog. The Caps players are coping a tad bit better, but not by much. Pretty stock responses here.

- Notes and preview here.

- Satan's back, the hockey player that is.

- Good article here about Ray Shero's moves, after getting crapped on by Hossa, and how they've helped the team this year.

Night Crawlers: 5/10 Edition

I wouldn't want my face photographed either sporting a 6.14 ERA, 6 appearances in a row giving up a run (11 runs, 10 earned) and reading the Post-Gazette all winter as if you were going to be traded out of baseball hell.

As the city prepares for another epic battle at Mellon Arena between the Penguins and Capitals, locals are left wondering if both cities are cursed as the Nationals are making a run at the 1962 Mets record of 120 losses and Pirates have all but guaranteed themselves the American pro sports record of 17 losing seasons in a row.

Pedro Alvarez update: 0 for 4... all strikeouts... boxscore

Brad Lincoln update: 6.2 IP, 5 K, 1 ER, and yes, the loss... boxscore

Morning Dump 5/10

Staal and Malkin party through the night...

Stop me if you've heard this one:

Pens win, Pirates lose.

Ya take the good, ya take the bad, ya take em both and there ya have the facts of life. Right Blair?

So we'll start with the bad and get that out of the way.

- The Pirates are currently sucking hind tit. A 10-1 loss yesterday, where our only run scored was on a solo shot from our pitcher, has the Pirates losers of 11 of 12.

- Yet somehow there's no sense of panic. It's almost as if Ray Nagin is speaking if that's the case.

- Like finding a skinny woman at a Weight Watchers seminar, there's a sliver of good Pirates' news, the new DR campaign is off and running.


-And now to the good, the Pens, Staal gets off the schnide and Malkin scores the OT winner as the Pens beat the Caps to put them on the brink of suicide.

- Wonderful game recap and pics here. Caps fans can't even spell correctly when they try to lamely taunt Crosby. How about some new and original material...

- Starkey has a man-crush on Malkin.

- Malkin's interviews are great. But hey, he's gotten a lot better from taking classes.

- The NHL gave the Pens a big middle finger in the kneegate saga.

- But, not to piss in everyone's Cheerios, but the series isn't over yet. The Caps have been here before. Although I have a message for the Caps at 1:33 here.

Morning Dump: A Pens' Edition

"Why Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave."

A quick turnaround today as the Pens and Caps get right back on the ice. This time though, the bad blood is flowing.

That dirty son of a bitch Ovechkin, in my opinion, which is probably slightly homer, clearly led with his right knee and went knee to knee on Gonchar.

See the hit here.

Impact moment in a screencap here.

Without knowing too many details of the injury, it looks to me like a hyperextension injury to the knee. Let's just hope that he didn't tear his ACL. The thing that may have saved Gonchar is the fact that his foot wasn't planted like in the example here, thus making it difficult to do enough extension to tear it.

Meanwhile, as to the dirty pond scum Ovechkin, any question as to whether or not he led with his shoulder and Gonchar moved away (as he claims) or whether he led with his right leg is answered with this screencap here.

He led with the leg, pure and simple, game, set, match. League office...the ball's in your court. I predict a fine and no suspension.

As for the game, the Pens finally got to rookie goalie Varlamov. He let softies in like a fat kid would with donuts. He's never played back to back games in his career and coming off a shit game like that, it'll be interesting to see how he responds. The former "baddest man on the planet" once said that, "Everyone has a plan until they get hit". Well tonight we see what Varlamov does because he got hit.

The Pens finally got some help from players not named Crosby and Malkin.

Game 5 may be important.

And as for Game 5, with the Pens full of piss and vinegar, I conclude and tee up the game with another line from the great movie 'Tombstone', and if this doesn't fire you up after all that transpired last night, then you're not human:

"From now on I see a red sash, I kill the man wearing it. So run you cur. And tell the other curs the law is coming. You tell 'em I'm coming! And Hell's coming with me you hear! Hell's coming with me!"

It's Only a Couple Hours Away

Grove City College that is. Hop onto I-79 North and drive til you see the signs Ovey. You remember...

I wonder if the team knew that he left last night or he just went up there on his own without telling them?

Either way, I'm sure that he's maybe pretty tired out and will have trouble playing tonight, or perhaps he just got some heavy petting and feels chipper and relaxed.

Morning Dump

"Cold as ice - you know that you are
Cold as ice - as cold as ice to me
Cold as ice"

- Well, the Pirates did in fact lose again yesterday and have now lost 9 of 10. The bats are cold as ice, summed up nicely here: "The heart of the Pirates' lineup went 0-for-16 against the Cardinals on Thursday afternoon."

- The Buccos played a lineup yesterday that would make the construction workers in 'Major League' say, "Who are these f'n guys?"

- The Pirates reacted to Manny's suspension. Can we please get the Pirates on roids to help level the playing field?

Ok, now that the suffering is out of the way, let's build up to tonight's Pens game against Ovechkin.

- The Pens have been forcing the action in the first 3 games. The floodgates have to open up at some point.

- The Pens also look to control the puck more again.

- Caps throwing all sorts of complaints against the wall to see what sticks.

- And a word about the bullshit that is playing back to back games in the playoffs. Seems that it's all Yanni's fault, as are most things in my life.

- Last but not least, a good article here on Mr. Superstar himself, Max Talbot.

Stunned

That would be the Caps after last night's game.

There was no 'Morning Dump' today, it's like I ate a lot of cheese and was somewhat 'late', but the Pens won and the Pirates lost. Actually the Pirates have lost 8 of 9 and are currently about to lose again at St. Louis. They've officially hit the iceberg.

You Got Knocked the F Out

Wow, just wow. What a punch and knock out.

A Pens' fan took his frustration out on a Caps' fan who appears to have been ragging on him after Game 2.

I don't advocate fighting, unless it's someone bigger than me jumping in and sticking up for me while I run my mouth from the back, but this is impressive.

Think the Caps' fan learned a lesson?

Morning Dump

Yes!!!! Another official 'Black and Gold Day' has been declared. What a great way for politicians to show their 'pride' and grandstand for the public. Personally, I like the fact that we get lame pictures of these lickbags trying too hard to be 'with it' while they're just getting the good press.

Of Pens preview, Pirates sucktitude, and a Foote job...

- The Pens have 'been there, done that', being down 2-0 in a series. Last year in the Cup Finals they were blown out of the building in Games 1 and 2 at Dead City, Michigan and still managed to push it to a home Game 6 that could've very well went 7. This year, compared to last year, has more hope because they could have very easily won either Game 1 or 2.

- Pens working the refs on the Caps' picks. I'm not one to blame the refs for a loss in a game, but we've all seen the picks (Cooke picked at faceoff starting at 1 minute mark) that have happened in the series. Just calling games based on the rules, both ways, would be nice. This though just seems like sour grapes.

- Glad that someone, not a Pens' fan, noticed Ovechkin's bad dive in Game 2. Come on all you "Crosby is a diver" folks, fair is fair...

- The P-G says that it's a must to win tonight and not go down 3-0. Their analysis and reporting also state that water is wet.

- Oh yeah, the Pirates played last night, against the Brewers, and guess what, they lost. They've now lost 17 in a row against them. I think that Teddy KGB was talking to Pirates fans when he said, "your hopes dashed, your dreams down the toilet".

- Capps, after blowing a save in a royal way, says his elbow hurts. It reminds me of a guy I knew in high school who would always say he was hurt or had hurt himself after he messed up playing sports.

- Foote talking with the Lions. I'm serious, and this is better than playing for the Steelers how?

- Hines Ward laughs at the Hines Ward Rule. He's got a point though, there is a double standard when it comes to blocking and big hits.

Big Ten +1 Will Remain Only +1

Joe Paterno wants few things in life, a good football team, to see an automobile replace the horse and buggy, fresh and unsoiled drawers, and another team in the Big Ten. The Commish of the Big Ten though shot him down.

A guy from ESPN who looks like Wormser (I kid you not, click on the links) breaks down some legit pros and cons of Big Ten expansion. I'm not sure if he is also still working on a javelin to work well with Lamar Latrell's limp-wristed throwing style or not.

PROS

• A 12th member ensures a championship game, which would bring in revenue and exposure for a league that often becomes an afterthought after Thanksgiving.
• Regardless of whether it helps the teams, a championship game would be a marketing boon for the league. Fan support is not a problem in the Big Ten.
• Big Ten teams heading to BCS bowls would have the same layoffs as their opponents in those games. Ohio State didn't play for 50 days before crumbling in the 2007 national title game against Florida, which had only 36 days off.
  
• A 12th member could expand the Big Ten's brand to another region of the country, possibly even the New York/New Jersey market with Rutgers or Syracuse. Expansion also could reignite old rivalries like Penn State-Pitt.
  

CONS

• The division alignment could present problems, and scheduling might be an even bigger headache than it already is. Annual rivalries could disappear or be marginalized. Would one division include Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State? How do you split them up? There might be a lesson to be learned with the Big 12 South last year.
  
• The 12th member can't just be a fit for football, but also for other sports as well as academics, geography, etc. Notre Dame is the obvious fit, but the Big Ten twice tried to add the Fighting Irish, and it didn't work. There isn't another school nearly as obvious as Notre Dame, which, from a business perspective, has no reason to relinquish its independent status.
  
• As Delany points out, it's important to study other leagues that have expanded and added championship games. Is the ACC really better off with more teams and a title game? The Big Ten still plays more BCS bowl games than any other league and gets its teams to the national title game.
  

It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

I used to visit Deadspin.com daily. But since the old editor left I think it's become mean spirited, so I don't check it as often. But today they found some real comedic gold... or maybe it's tragic gold. Nothing I can say from here can add anything, just watch the video.

Morning Dump

Well it was a horrible night for Pittsburgh area sports fans.

Both the Pens and the Pirates shit the bed, and both in big ways.

- Ovechkin and Crosby both have hat tricks, but the Caps are getting more from others on their team and beat the Pens last night. Twice the Pens had one goal leads that they couldn't hold onto. Defensive mistakes and mental lapses hurt.

- Pens box score here. Malkin only getting one assist won't cut it.

- Seth at the P-G with his usual great live game blogging here.

- Pens controlled the puck well and had great chances. They got denied though quicker than a Tri Lam going after an Alpha Beta.

- The loss stings, but it was an epic game to watch Crosby and Ovechkin.

- Key to the series, Varlamov, is standing tall. I hate him.

- In the grand scheme of things though, all the Caps did was fight and scrap, it didn't come easy, and hold serve on their home ice. Crosby's play gives the Pens hope as they come home for an obvious must win.

There's an old saying in sports:

"A playoff series doesn't begin until the home team loses a game"

And now onto bed-shitters number two, the Pirates.

Anyone who was fortunate enough to watch that Pens game then tune into the end of the Pirates game to watch that disaster unfold and then not commit seppuku is a very stable individual.

- The headline of the "Bucs Bullpen Blows It" is putting it lightly. P-G's coverage here. Losing a 2 run lead in the top of the 8th, scrapping a tough run in the bottom of the 8th for a lead, then blowing a save and giving up 4 in the ninth, is certainly more than blowing it.

- More sugar poured into the gas tank.

- Yates begins to sharpen his game? Really? Sharpened from what?

- Lets get Monroe some ab's.

- And last but not least, a Larry Foote take.

Cryer Foote Finally Officially Released - Update

From the P-G:

The Steelers granted linebacker Larry Foote his wish and released him today.

Foote had one year left on his contract with a salary of $2,885,000.

"Larry has been a big part of our success, but unfortunately the realities of the salary cap made this decision inevitable," Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, said in a statement. "We wish Larry and his family nothing but the best as he moves forward with his career."

Ya know, I don't like to see starters just released like this, but Larry Foote cried his way out and would have been a distraction had they have kept him. He wanted more playing time. Huh? He's a starter.

This will get Timmons on the field more, and that's not a bad thing. He can run really fast.

The worst part though is the timing. If Foote would've started his bitchfest a couple weeks ago, we could have maybe drafted Ray Maualuga in a draft day steal and had a completely sick LB corp. Oh well.

See ya Larry. Enjoy a trip somewhere into NFL anonymity.



UPDATE:

A take from ESPN:

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially released linebacker Larry Foote, the team announced Monday evening. As a result, the Steelers lose a veteran but will get to take Foote's $2.885 million salary off their cap.

This also means it's time for 2007 first-round pick Lawrence Timmons to make the jump to being a full-time starter. The coaching staff was preparing Timmons the past two years for this moment as he gradually took playing time from Foote. That is what caused Foote to want out of Pittsburgh in the first place.

There was a chance Timmons would have unseated Foote if the two had an open competition in training camp. But Monday's release puts an end to the speculation.

Now Timmons has a much bigger role in Pittsburgh's title defense. He has shown many flashes but never had the opportunity to prove he can be a consistent football player -- until now.

Morning Dump

Well, what a letdown of a weekend, culminating in the Pirates being shutout for the third time in four games. I'm passing the hat around, we're gonna take a collection and buy them the Tom Emanski videos. Like the Vegas Jesus said, Murderer's Row indeed.

On to the links...

- A link to the Pirates' game recap yesterday. Move along, nothing to see.

- The Pirates still have the best ERA in the majors and give up the lowest runs/game. The defense appears to be the best in the bigs also. Our GM though, exuding of confidence, expects the other shoe to drop.

- Karstens gives up too many walks, too many pitches, and too many homeruns. It's said that it's a formula for failure. I say that desperation, booze, and mediocre women are just as formulamatic.

- Scouting the Brewers.

- Limas "Stonehands and I'm Hurt" Sweed and Mendenhall are looking for better sophomore seasons. In my expert, and yes say it with me, uncontestable, opinion, they'll both be fine.

- The Pens are still looking for scoring from an offensive player not named Malkin or Crosby. Speaking of Malkin...

- He's having a goal drought. Here and here. If he continues with these stat lines, the Pens will be enjoying some mid-May golfing very soon.

- Like clockwork and my habit of not getting work done at work, an opposing coach bitches about the Pens getting calls go their way.

- However, it's not all rainclouds and puppy killing, the Pens are still confident, and they should be with how they played on Saturday and this nugget:

The Caps are now 7-1 all-time in Game 1s against the Penguins, but just 1-6 in the previous seven series.